InsaneJournal

Day Twelve
Who: Katara and Sub-Zero
What: Working with Water
When: Day 12 ; Sunset
Where: The Beach
Rating: PG
Status: Complete

Katara was tired.

That was an understatement. Katara was wiped out. Who would have thought that training with four other women could be so intense? Then again, these women weren’t just any women; they were warriors and an earthbender and a vampire slayer. All were highly trained, physically fit, battle hardened women.

The waterbender couldn’t deny that it had been a great time, though. Doing something productive always made her feel better, useful, worthwhile. Weapons training wasn’t an exception. She was doing something to keep her physical fit, and that kept her mind at ease because her body was healthy. The healthier Katara was the better able she would be to help others. That was a good goal to have as far as she was concerned for herself.

Right now it was time for food, though. That would keep her healthy. Dinner sounded delightful, and Katara’s stomach was rumbling softly from hunger pangs. She sat in the restaurant while the golems brought her the food she requested. A noodle sort of meal she’d eaten in the Earth Kingdom capitol of Ba Sing Se when she visited. It was delicious. Instead of tea, she drank orange juice, though. She loved tea, but if she drank it too often she knew she would get sick of it, and that would be a shame. Besides, juice was healthy.

After eating an enjoyable meal, she decided it was time to relax and go for a swim. Technically, she hadn’t gone swimming once since she arrived here, even in the lake, and now that it was an ocean, the salty waters were calling to her. The hurricane had probably delayed this overdue trip even longer, though.

Without further adieu, Katara left the main building headed straight for the sandy beach and the vast ocean. The sun had begun to set, but the air was still warm. The moons had yet to rise. Just before she actually reached the edge of the sand of the beach, she removed her shoes and her pants. The dress part of her traditional Water Tribe attire remained on her person as she walked through the sun warmed sand. It felt fantastic on her aching feet. Halfway between the beginning of the sand and the edge of the water, she paused to fold up her pants and remove her dress-like top.

Beneath her outer clothing, she wore a top that wrapped around her chest and over her shoulders like a tank top, but it didn’t cover her belly. The same type of fabric wrapped around her hips and upper thighs, looking like a mini skirt over skin tight shorts. In her world, this was the traditional underwear of the water tribes for women and men alike ((though they only had the lower half)). Katara wasn’t modest about clothing. She could be nude in front of other women without a problem, as she could be in her underwear in front of anyone without a problem. Not only was this her underwear, but it also served as her swim suit. It was wrapped well enough that it didn’t reveal any unmentionables when wet.

Katara waded into the water, loving the sensation of water lapping at her legs. The water was warmest near the surface, but the deeper she moved, the colder it became. This didn’t bother her at all. Even though she hadn’t been in the South or North Poles in probably half a year- if not more- she was still content with the cold. In fact, she missed that ice and snow covered landscape.

With a sigh, the waterbender flopped onto her back, sinking slowly beneath the ocean waves. The water was so relaxing, drifting in currents over her naturally tanned and sun darkened flesh. A movement of her arms forced her to break the surface so she could suck salty air into her lungs. A thought occurred to her, and she thought she might try it.

Closing her eyes, Katara sank beneath the surface once more, but this time she had purpose. Anyone nearby would see a faint blue glow beneath the waves that grew bright as it expanded. The glow began at her feet, traveling slowly up, over her legs. It helped when the waterbender moved her hands up with it, guiding the light as she healed her aches. Soon the lower half of her body was enveloped in an aura of soft blue light. As the healing process finished in one spot it would disappear, even as the glow traveled over her form, moving at a swifter pace up her torso to her shoulders and upper arms, disappearing all the way up to her waist. The glow stopped at her upper neck, disappearing from her until only her throat was illuminated. Finally, it too disappeared, and the Water Tribe femme was left feeling almost as refreshed as when she’d awakened that morning.

Kicking up from the sand at the bottom, Katara broke the surface, taking a deep breath into her lungs. That had been harder than she’d thought, no matter how easy it may have appeared to an outsider. It had taken a lot of focus and energy- energy that was partially derived from the remaining oxygen in her lungs she needed to stay beneath the surface of the water as long as she had. Having an ocean of water around her had helped so much. She’d hardly had to move except to focus her energy on where to heal with her hands. Now that she knew it was possible to accomplish on herself, she wondered how well she could do this for another person. If they were to lay in a pool of water, could she heal them more effectively than when she only had one small source of water only large enough to fit around her hand?

She shrugged, not knowing when, or if, she would ever get the chance to try it. The waves glittered orange in the light of the setting sun, appearing oh so enticing to the waterbender’s silver optics- also burning orange-ish red in the fading light. With a simple, yet elegant movement, she fashioned a surf-board-like block of ice that floated easily on the warmer waves. She would have to keep bending it to keep it frozen, no doubt.

Katara slid onto the floating block of ice onto her belly. It was cold, but she enjoyed the sensation. Soon enough she was paddling with her arms toward larger waves until she could get herself standing quickly. This was always a fun way for her to waterbend when she visited the Fire Nation- especially Ember Island. As she stood, she bent the water around her feet to secure them so they wouldn’t slip on the ice. The water behind her suddenly moved with a few motions of her arms she’d learned from the Foggy Swamp Tribe so she was propelled forward toward her goal of larger waves.

Learning how to surf hadn’t exactly been easy, but, once she got it, she couldn’t lose the skill. It wasn’t one she ever wanted to lose, either. It was incredibly fun, riding the waves. Of course, she did have a habit of making the waves roll however she thought would be more fun. That didn’t apply to when she and her friends would occasionally have contests with riding the waves, though, because that would be cheating. Katara wasn’t a liar after all.